prospered them, then shall we lose the fruits of past labors, and field's placed under hopeful cultivation, and beginning to smile with moral verdure and beauty, must be abandoned, and turned back to barrenness and desolation.

The missionary work, it should ever be borne in mind, is necessarily a cumulative work. The success of one year creates a demand for more work to be done the next year. And surely, because God helps us in our work, blesses our missions, and so increases our labors and responsibilities, we may not ask him to stay his hand, or lighten the burdens which he thus lays upon us. Rather let us thank him for placing us under the blessed necessity of going forward in this work; and if, at any time, it seem to press too heavily upon us, let us take it up with new courage in his strength, cast our burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain us.

Our duty in respect to the cause of missions is not indeed to be ascertained, or to be measured by the degree of success which may presently attend our endeavors. That duty comes to us under the sanction of a higher authority. It lies in two things,--First, it is the will of our ascended and reigning Lord, expressed in a plain command of his word, that we, his disciples, bear a part in causing his Gospel to be preached to every creature. And, second, we have the means of affording essential aid in the accomplishment of this great work, and where there is a knowledge of duty and the means of doing it, there the obligation is perfect, and we are held responsible to the great Lord and Judge of all.

Our privilege, too, in this respect, lies in two things. First, the cause itself is essentially good, and in seeking to promote it, we become co-workers with God, in God's most noble work, call into exercise the purest and best feelings of the heart, and adopt the most effectual way of securing growth in grace, and a high measure of present Christian enjoyment. And, second, all we do in this cause, from love to Christ and our fellow-men, Christ regards as done to himself, and he will remember it to our everlasting joy in the kingdom of glory.

3. Let us learn from our subject a lesson of godly fear, lest by anything wrong in our spirit and manner of doing this work, we turn away God's helping hand from us. The cause, my brethren, in which we are engaged, is God's cause, and not ours; and its success depends absolutely on his blessing. Our plans, our means, our efforts, however multiplied and extended, would not avail for the salvation of a single soul, without the continued guidance and help of God's spirit. "It is not by might nor by power, but by my spirit," that this world's salvation is to be effected. This great cardinal truth is ever to be kept in mind, by missionaries, and the directors of missionary societies and their friends. It should form their plans, guide their policy, animate their efforts, and draw forth their prayers in faith and hope, under a deep, abiding impression, that without the help of God, nothing can be done in this work; and with his help, nothing is too great or too diffi

cult to be done. Everything we attempt in this great enterprise should be begun, continued and ended, in an inward, heartfelt persuasion that we are simply instruments in God's hand to do God's work; and this should make us most seriously solicitous to do his work in his way, and not in ours. There is no room here for worldly wisdom or worldly policy. The whole enterprise should be conducted in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God. Especially does it become us to cherish habitually a godly fear, a holy jealousy, lest in the doing of the work committed to us, we displease God, and he withdraw his help from us. We may do this in a great variety of ways. We may do this by indulging a spirit of self-confidence, or placing undue reliance on mere human instruments. We may do it by turning aside from our proper work, taking up burdens, which the Lord does not impose upon us, or engaging in controversy about matters which, however important in themselves, or desirable to be attained, fall not within the appropriate sphere of this Board's agency. We may do this by departing from the scriptural model of missions-strictly a spiritual model--and conducting them on a wrong plan; introducing into them more of the form than of the power of religion, more of what is secular and showy, than of what is spiritual and enduring; building of hay, wood, and stubble, rather than of gold, silver and precious stones. which only will abide in the coming day of trial.

In a conversation I had with the Rev. Mr. Tidman, one of the secretaries of the London Missionary Society, some two years since, he made this remark, in reply to a question I put to him, in regard to the policy pursued by his Society in conducting its missions: Our only policy, he said, is to have no policy, but to preach the pure gospel, Christ and him crucified. This remark struck me with force, as having in it sound philosophy, as well as sound scriptural truth. It suggests the only true and efficient policy of conducting Christian missions-a policy aiming, as its main end, at the conversion of souls, and building them up in truth and holiness. This was Paul's policy; it should be ours; and the more closely we adhere to it, the simpler will be our plan, the more plain and unembarrassed our course, and the more likely shall we be to enjoy the continued help of God. Much prayer, much humility, much consciousness of dependence on the Holy Spirit, with great simplicity of purpose, and consecration of heart and life to God's service and glory, these are the essential elements of efficiency and success in the missionary work. They are right and pleasing in God's sight; they honor his power and grace; and where he sees missions conducted in this spirit, and with this end in view, there he will afford his help, and the work will go forward with power in the conversion and salvation of dying men.

4. Let us learn from our subject a lesson of encouragement and hope in regard to the future. The work of missions, it is true, is encompassed with great difficulties and embarrassments. It is a

work which draws forth little sympathy or co-operation from an unbelieving world. It has no charms for the mere scholar, statesman or philosopher. It is not carried forward by the resources of the great and mighty among men. It is a work not to be consum

mated in a day or a year, but is to be carried on from generation to generation, how long we know not. It is to be carried on, too, in the midst of toil and suffering, with the sacrifice of much property, and of many lives, and in the face of much opposition and of many reverses and discouragements. Still this work will go forward. It will go forward when we and others now engaged in it are dead and gone. It will pass into other hands, and be urged on by other agents, till the great object, at which it aims, is accomplished, and the whole world converted to God. The cause of missions is God's cause. He has set upon it, in our day, the seal of his approbation; and his promise and power are pledged to make it triumphant over all the earth. It may meet with local and temporary checks. Particular missions may, for a time, fail of success, or be abandoned. False friends may desert the cause, and its true friends may sometimes be ready to faint because of the greatness of the work, and the mighty obstacles which lie in the way of its acccomplishment. The heathen themselves, or such as falsely bear the Christian name, may rise up to persecute and oppose, and governments may put forth the strong arm of power to suppress the progress of truth, and test the fidelity of our missionaries, by subjecting them to trials, like those which the apostles and primitive Christians had to endure; still, I repeat, the cause of missions will go forward. It has gone forward in a remarkable manner in our day, and never perhaps more remarkably than during the last year. Many events have occurred of great and auspicious interest in their bearing on our missions. The mission in Syria, long and severely tried, has assumed a new and very encouraging aspect; and its facilities for preaching the Gospel in that dark land with success were never so great as at present. The great battle of religious freedom, it would seem, has been fought in Turkey, and the victory won. What it cost our fathers more than a century of struggling and suffering to achieve, in England, has been achieved, after the struggle of a few months, in the empire of the Moslems. The rights of Protestantism are recognised, and Protestant churches, under the auspices of our mission there are being established. Divine influence, too, during the past year, has descended upon many of our missions, if not in copious showers, yet in refreshing dews, reviving the hearts of our misionaries, and raising to hope and to God, many of the benighted and the lost. When I read of the work of God among the poor Indians in the far west, and especially of what has transpired within a few months, among the Nestorians, of Oroomiah, and its neighboring villages, I seem to myself to be in the midst of those scenes of mercy which haye so often been witnessed in the churches of our own land, and which we gratefully recognise as the manifestation of God's spe

cial presence and grace. These visitations of divine influence, we may confidently hope, will be more and more frequent, powerful, and extensive, till the seed of the word, having been scattered broadcast over the earth, and the way prepared for so glorious a consummation, nations will be born unto God in a day, and a quick work will be made in bringing the whole world into subjection to Him who reigns king on the holy hill of Zion. Let us then. look upon the cause of missions with strong confidence and bright hope. This cause is safe; a spiritual cause, carried on in the hearts of men by God's invisible, almighty power; its elements are truth and love; its seat of action is the soul of man; its fruit, peace, joy, hope, present and everlasting happiness. This cause is safe; and it is the only cause in our world which is safe. Nation may rise against nation, governments may be established and overturned; "revolution may succeed revolution, as waves on a stormy sea;" and all the enterprises and affairs of men may perish and pass away, in disappointment and confusion; but the cause of missions, the cause of God, is safe. Our day of action will quickly be over. Another thirty-six years of the Board's history will soon pass away, but we shall not be here to mingle in its councils, or aid in carrying out its measures. But the power that guards the cause we love, and which is engaged to bear it on to final and complete success, is above all change; it never grows old, is never weary; and when that power has borne on this cause to its destined consummation, then the darkness and miseries of sin shall roll away from all lands; light and salvation bless all the ends of the earth; and unnumbered millions of our race, plucked as brands from the burning, shall stand with white robes and palms in their hands, in the higher and eternal regions, joining in the song in which Christ is united with the Father, "Salvation to God that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever, Amen."

BY THE REV. JOSIAH HOPKINS, D.D.

AUBURN, NEW-YORK.

SANCTIFICATION BY MEANS OF THE TRUTH.

Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth.--JOHN XVIII. 17.

The work of sanctification is an extensive subject, and it is as important as it is extensive. It includes all that is doing by the agency of the Spirit of God to reclaim men from their apostacy, and prepare them for the kingdom of heaven. It is one of the prominent characteristics of sin to dissemble, and as sanctification is essential to our final salvation, and as there are many appearances of sanctification that eventually prove to be false, it is of immense importance that the subject should be understood. By sanctification, as the word is used in the Bible, two things would seem to be meant. First, a separation, or setting apart of anything, for the purpose of promoting the worship of God. It was in this sense that the seventh day was sanctified and made the holy sabbath. It was set apart from the other days of the week to promote the service of God. It was in this sense that the tabernacle and the altar, with all the vessels that pertained to the tabernacle worship, were sanctified. The other use of the word differs but little, if any, from this. The only difference would seem to be made, by its being applied to a voluntary and responsible agent. To sanctify, signifies, when applied to men, to make them holy. When a sinner is separated from the world, and attached to the service of God, by the influences of the Spirit, the work of sanctification is begun in his heart. In this sense, sanctification is a progressive work. In proportion as the sinner becomes holy he is sanctified. Hence the apostle prayed concerning his brethren at Thessalonica, that the God of peace would sanctify them wholly.

The agency by which this work is performed, is the Holy Spirit. In his epistle to the Romans, the apostle observes, "being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." To the Corinthian church he remarks, "ye are sanctified by the Spirit of our God," and to the Ephesians his language is, "grieve not the Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

But there is another part in relation to this work of sanctification, which it is important we should understand, and that is, that truth is the instrument by which it is performed. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth. It is to this point that the attention of my hearers, for a few moments, will be invited.

1. It is evident that truth is the great means of sanctification, from the fact that commands and invitations are used, and from the man